


The Missing Ring

by iloveitblue



Series: Prompts [86]
Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Established, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-29
Updated: 2014-11-18
Packaged: 2018-02-15 07:04:22
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,303
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2219985
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iloveitblue/pseuds/iloveitblue
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The one where Natasha searches for Clint's missing ring.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> "It’s not here." Clint muttered as he turned the pillows over. Natasha stood under the threshold, silent. 

Clint had emptied all his drawers and even took out everything in his closet. He was looking for something, and based on the panic in his eyes, it was something important. “Where is it?!” Clint asked out loud, running a frustrated hand through his blond hair. 

"Clint…" Natasha called out to him as she walked closer to her friend. "What’s wrong?" she asked him. Natasha didn’t need to, she knew that. Clint hated being coddled but certain times, she made exceptions.

"I can’t find it." Clint answered, not even sparing her a glance. He kicked the pile of clothes in frustration and sat dejected on his bed.

"Find what, Clint?" 

"My ring…" 

Natasha’s eyes had widened at the declaration. Ah. That explained it. Clint’s wedding ring was the most important of his possessions, next to his bow. “Okay, calm down.” She says, more to herself really. She doesn’t mean to be affected by the loss of the ring, but it’s the last thing Clint owned that was both his and Phil’s. So yeah, she’s allowed to panic. “Where’d you last see it?”

Clint put his head in his hands and groaned. “I don’t remember, Tasha. I can’t remember anything.” Clint’s voice was shaking and Natasha knew that Clint was trying his hardest not to destroy anything and everything in sight. “I can’t lose my ring, if I lose it… I-“

Natasha shushed him. “We’ll find it. I’ll help you find it. Now tell me everything you  _do_  remember. Even the smallest of details.”

They’d set off, trying to find the ring. Some might have said that it was too much effort to find a single band, but nobody but them knew its worth. 

—-

Phil fiddled with the ring on his finger, feeling a little bit calmer when he felt the small engraved arrow on it. 

He was alive, sure, but he was also hiding. The Avengers Initiative had taken off, just as Fury had told him. Along with Strike Team Delta. 

Phil was happy for his two best agents but he also missed them. Clint, more so than others, but they were better off without him now. He was happy for them. He  _is_  happy for them.

Phil took out a velvet box that Fury had given him before he went into hiding and took out the single chain that carried Clint’s half of their wedding rings. He smiled at the engraved tie on it and remembered the ridiculous argument he and Clint had had when they decided to engrave the rings.

He put the chain around his neck and let the ring fall against his chest, holding it for a moment longer. He stuffed it into his shirt away from prying eyes and went to see his team.

—-

"You could have called, you know." Phil did not flinch. He did, however, pause before he fully closed the door separating his office from the rest of the Bus. 

"I don’t have that luxury, you know that." He refused to face his intruder. He wasn’t as ready for this as he initially thought. "How did you find me?" Phil moved to his chair before finally looking up and staring at Natasha.

"I followed your trail." She said, calmly seated in front of his desk. "It wasn’t easy. Fury did a lot to try and cover it." Then she shrugged. "There was only so much he could do."

"It’s good to see you again." Phil told her, it was the truth. Even if she didn’t believe it.

She gave him a tight smile. “I should punch your brains out. Turn that lie about you being dead into the truth.”

Phil knew she wouldn’t hesitate doing just that. “I should’ve just stayed dead, you mean.” Phil nodded at her. “I agree.” Natasha didn’t reply to that.

"I need his ring back. It’s the only reason I’m even here." Phil nodded his understanding and slowly removed the chain from around his neck and handed it to Natasha. As soon as it was in her hands, she stood up and headed for the door.

"Will you tell him about me?" Phil asked her.

"You know better than anyone, you two are the only ones I won’t lie to when it comes down to it." She said over her shoulder.

—-

"Where’d you find it?" Clint asked her excitedly as he hurriedly put it back around his neck. The familiar weight of the ring against his chest made him feel secure again. It felt like Phil was there again, calming him. It felt like coming home.

"Fury was hiding it." Was Natasha’s only reply, as she walked out.


	2. Chapter 2

There was something wrong. 

Clint noticed when Natasha handed him the ring back, but she didn’t. How could she possibly notice when she never knew about the engravings on the rings. In the first place, the engravings were on the inside of the rings and they both basically straight lines except Phil’s ring had an arrow on it, and Clint’s ring had a tie on it. 

Clint doesn’t know where in the world Natasha found this ring, but it wasn’t his.

It was Phil’s. 

"Hey, Tasha?" Clint prompted her one night. 

Clint had his head rested on her lap and Natasha was running her hand repeatedly through his hair in a way she knew calmed him while holding up a book with another hand. She hummed a response.

"You’d never lie to me, right?" Clint asked her, his hand unconsciously flying to his chest, right where the ring rested.

It wasn’t so much as a flinch, but it was something close. Her eyes skittered over the page of the book she was reading, looking for words that weren’t there, before she looked down at Clint and smiled. “Of course not, little bird.”

Clint smiled up at her and closed his eyes, a silent thanks he knew she understood. 

Her hand never stilled.

That was all Clint needed. He knew. She was lying.

—-

Clint knew that Natasha wouldn’t lie to him on most occasions, but when she thought lying would keep Clint safe, she lied to him no matter what Clint thought of her.

He didn’t know what it meant. What Phil’s ring being with him meant. What Natasha finding it meant. 

Well, that’s not technically true. 

He had a theory but it was so far-fetched and such a huge thing to hope for. Then again, when has that ever stopped him? It was a possibility. Phil might be alive, somewhere… and Natasha knows where.

—-

"Just check if the warehouse is clean, they said." Skye bitched as she continued to struggle out of the ropes binding her hands to the arm chair she was currently stuck on. "There won’t be anything to worry about, they said." She sighed when she figured that the ropes were probably too tight to even break free from. What she needed was a knife.

Or a knight in shining armor.

Whichever one works.

—-

Clint ducked and weaved through the HYDRA agents sent his way, knocking them out one by one. What was supposed to be a simple milk run turned into a search and rescue. 

Honestly, it wouldn’t be a problem, normally… because  _normally_  he knew who he was looking for and rescuing. Now though, with the hard drive safely in his pocket, he still had to find one SHIELD agent that managed to get captured but was fresh enough to not know how to escape a warehouse full of HYDRA agents.

Clint ran down the hall, shot two sentries with the ICERs - which were awesome, by the way - and three more for the hostiles following him. Clint rounded a corner and found a door at the end of the hall, guarded by goons, of course, but what was new? Clint quickly took them down without even using his ICERs and left them all unconscious on the floor. 

When Clint opened the door, he found a girl tied to a chair, facing the wall and struggling to get her hands free. Clint resisted the urge to laugh because… well… it was cute.

"You might want to break a few bones if you want to escape." Clint commented and the girl stilled. "Are you the newbie Hill wanted me to pick up?"

"Whoever you are, I am not hailing HYDRA, so you can suck it." The girl spat at him, still trying to break her hands free. 

Clint took pity on the girl and pulled out his knife. “Relax, I’m not with HYDRA.” He cut one of the ropes and handed her the knife to do the rest herself. “I’m here to bust you out.”

"Are you SHIELD?" She asked him once she freed her legs.

Clint winced. “Not exactly.”

"Well then, I guess that makes you my knight in shining armor." The girl batted her eyelashes at him, which Clint would find attractive if he was maybe 20 years younger or not trying to look for his dead-but-apparently-not husband.

"Yeah, no. Sorry, princess but you’re not really my type." He gave her a once over and smirked "or in my age group."

The girl looked insulted by his words but he really couldn’t care less. He just wanted to get out of the place and go back to looking for Phil.

She rolled her eyes at him and took a gun from one of the goons lying on the floor outside the room. “You’re not my type either, anyway.”

—-

They managed to get out of the warehouse unscathed and Clint managed to get Skye to her rendezvous point safely which meant he could go home. 

In between the weird first meeting and getting her to safety, Clint found that Skye was really easy to talk to. Maybe it was because he didn’t know her that well - you know with that saying about it being easier to talk to strangers - so he didn’t really care what she thought of him. 

Skye was talkative, she complained a lot - mostly about how her ‘dad’ never lets her do anything after that last stunt - she was great at computers apparently, and had a father figure who was also her boss. She didn’t say much about their identity, location and whatever else would give their position away, and Clint didn’t ask - Spy code, and whatnot - but based on her stories, she had a great team with her.

In turn, Clint talked to her about Phil. He never told her Phil’s name, it was always ‘him’ or ‘my husband’ and Clint was glad that Skye didn’t pry.

—-

It was an accident.

Not even that, it was a mistake. a stupid mistake that almost cost him his life. He should’ve been more careful. He never should have started this in the first place.

Now, with his final lead gone, there was nothing left to do but accept the fact that Phil is dead. He was lucky to still be alive though, to have Skye and her team save him at the last minute. 

—-

Clint woke up silently, his eyes flickering open in the dim room of what looked like a med bay. He checked his limbs if they were still there and if he could still feel them. Good news: He could. Bad news: It was mostly pain.

That was when he noticed that someone was holding his hand. His eyes trailed over the figure slumped over Clint’s bed, sleeping in a suit no less. Clint doesn’t know who this person is, but he reminded him of Phil - the way he slumped over Clint’s legs, the way his hand never moved from Clint’s, the way the cold metal of the ring touched Clint’s skin, the way he mumbled a little while he slept, the way- wait. 

Clint focused on the ring on the man’s finger. A simple silver band with no design whatsoever. Clint was willing to bet  _his life_  that it had an engraved tie on the inside, that it was  _his_  ring.

"Phil?" Clint’s throat was dry and he barely got his voice out, but it was enough to rouse the sleeping man and blink at Clint. 

It was Phil. 

Phil’s alive.

Clint doesn’t know what happens next, but his vision blurs and his shoulders start shaking. He can’t even get speak, just bursts of what sounded like sobs. 

He doesn’t care, because Phil is here, and he’s alive. 

Phil immediately stood up without another word and sat next to Clint in the cot, covering the archer in a warm embrace. Clint clung to Phil like a life line, unwilling to let go as he buried his head in the crook of Phil’s neck. “It’s okay, Clint. I’m here. I’m never leaving you again. I promise.” Phil kissed his head while Clint just clung harder. “I love you, I’m here. I’m not leaving.”

—-

Skye entered the room not expecting what greeted her.

Phil was sitting on the cot beside Clint and they were basically snuggling as they watched TV. It was like she stepped into another dimension where Phil is her dad and Clint is her-

wait.

"Oh, ew. Gross." Skye complained from the doorway. Both man turned to her. "First of all, ew. I should never have to be subjected to watching my parents cuddle in the bed because a) I’m an orphan and b) its traumatizing. Secondly, I’m happy you guys found each other again but seriously? I could’ve gotten you two together earlier and with less casualty if I’d known." Skye crossed her arms.

"Uh… You are aware that I’m not really your father right?" Phil asked her, amused.

"Yeah. Yeah. So question."

"Shoot." Clint said and Phil rolled his eyes at the archer.

"Do I get to call Clint Pops now? or….?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Here on tumblr](http://promptmephlint.tumblr.com/post/102966706031/i-am-feeling-oddly-happy-today-so-have-a-i)

**Author's Note:**

> [Here on tumblr](http://promptmephlint.tumblr.com/post/96095839151/im-really-tired-lately-its-like-i-never-get)
> 
> As usual, if you want me to continue this fic, [Send me a line](http://promptmephlint.tumblr.com/ask), so I can add it to my queue. :)


End file.
